Alcoholics Anonymous is a Religion

[Crimson Ghost]

[quote=Chewbaccus]The official stance of AA is that (paraphrasing) members are "powerless over alcohol, and none but a higher power may restore them". [quote]

I am powerless over my bills, and nothing but money may restore me.

I've seen one of these meetings. A guy who claimed he couldn't talk in front of friends had no problem getting up in front of twenty strangers and saying "Hi, I'm Jack, and I'm an Alcoholic."

I don't believe in Alcoholics Anonymous.
I ain't anonymous.
And everyone knows I drink.
And I ain't an alcoholic.
I'm a drunk.
Alcoholics go to the meetings.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Crimson Ghost

A guy who claimed he couldn't talk in front of friends had no problem getting up in front of twenty strangers and saying "Hi, I'm Jack, and I'm an Alcoholic.

Exactly. Insanity. what is one of the scariest things for people to do? Public speaking. In AA they ask you to speak in front of a room of strangers for an hour and spill your guts. The thought of doing that engenders a very strong need for a drink in me. I like Rational Recovery.

[Stormieweather]

I know this doesn't work for everyone, but I didn't turn myself over to a 'higher power' and I didn't go to any meetings, I took control of myself. I realized I was going overboard (an understatement) with the alcohol and I simply quit buying it or ordering it when I was out. Now, I rarely go to bars or places that exclusively serve alcohol. I keep plenty of non-alchoholic bottled drinks around for the times I just want that old, familiar feeling of having my fist wrapped around the neck of a bottle and chugging down whatever it contains.

I haven't had a drop of alcohol in more than three years. I don't miss the hangovers, that's for sure. I do miss the lack of inhibitions that alcohol gave me. I was funny, affectionate, verbose and a wild cat in bed when I drank. Sober, I'm much more reserved and shy.

Oh well.

Stormie

I cannot remember which literary wag said it , but I have always liked the line ' I drink to make you lot seem more interesting ' . Perhaps that would be a good thing to tell those holier-than-thou AA people you refer to , Brianna .

I have always liked the other classic too : 'An Englishman is born two whiskies under par' . Some nations , on the contrary , seem to be born drunk ( lucky them) . My father's theory is that wise Mohammed knew this , and this is why he banned the booze for his own people .

On a more somber note , I also think the line from the drunk to the Little Prince , by Antoine de St Exupéry is relevant . The drunk tells the Little Prince that he drinks to forget he is a drunk . That is surely the worst reason of all to drink too much .

[Crimson Ghost]

Originally Posted by Stormieweather

I know this doesn't work for everyone, but I didn't turn myself over to a 'higher power' and I didn't go to any meetings, I took control of myself.

Stormie

The one and only time I turned my life over to a "higher power", I got a snappy uniform and went on vacation on the "Uncle Sam Vacation Plan".

[Chewbaccus]

Originally Posted by Crimson Ghost

I am powerless over my bills, and nothing but money may restore me.

Folks, to be fully blunt with you all, I've seen more snide, self-righteous sentiment here on this board to this point than I have in any AA room I've ever been in. (Granted, I've also never been in a place that Rock described, but still.)

You lot can drink and put the bottle down. Congratulations. You are not an alcoholic. An alcoholic is not "that guy at the bar that has one final drink before last call". Alcoholism is a form of a mental disease whereby the victim simply cannot feel good about him or herself without an external stimulus to that particular part of the brain. Alcoholics use booze. Other drug users use their particular drug of choice. Sex addicts bone. Alcohol for an alcoholic is just the way that particular person manifests their problem.

The public speaking thing, you'd be amazed. First of all, someone doesn't walk in on their first day and spill their guts. It takes quite a while. Further - and this is just my hypothesis - people are spooked about speaking to crowds mostly because they know/see/interact with the people in said crowd on a fairly regular basis, therefore any error or public humiliation will stay with them long after they have left the podium.

In AA, you (by and large) don't know the people in the rooms. Everyone's on a first-name basis, which seven times out of ten is usually an alias. When you get up to speak, you know that (A) what you're about to say is very similar to what you've been hearing others say for the last X meetings you've gone to with your own personal twists to it, and (B) what you say in that room stays in that room. It won't be a topic of conversation at the water cooler, people won't be looking at you funny at the bowling alley, or at the grocery store, or when you pick your kid up at school. When you get up and say your story, nobody for whom it isn't their first time looks at you judgmentally beacuse they recognize the guts it takes to stand up and they also know they've been down a parallel path.

We hear terms "higher power" and "turning your life over" and we make them punchlines. But the fact is that these people cannot simply "stop drinking". They can't take control of themselves, by themselves. They admit this to others, to themselves, and I don't think enough of us realize the sheer magnitude of that admission in a society like ours where self-control and self-reliance come so highly prized.

Say what you will, make all the jokes you want, but the fact remains that there's some serious fucking courage in a lot of those meetings. It's not something to be mocked. It's something to be lauded.

[dar512]

Well written Chew. America as a culture is cynical about pretty much everything. Thanks for reminding us that there are people making hard won changes in their lives. Not all heroes are famous.